Through New Eyes

The train approaches in the distance Through a tunnel we gave birth The chimney smog marries the low clouds Of increasing heavy traffic and haze of garbage fires Red roof tops absorb long wave radiation The neighbourhood’s listening to the world Through aerials and satellite dishes The potholes feel like exploding landmines As vehicles detour onto the pavements People stroll in the middle of overcrowded streets While children play soccer and drive brick blocks Through new eyes, Everything still looks the same or worst Who will drive the train of progress, Who will pilot change? The township must be demolished! It symbolises everything wrong with us, Stagnation, procrastination and assimilation The corners are occupied by gangs of ‘nyaope boys’ Who have made it their career to be unproductive It’s a gaping sore of apartheid’s legacy That will never heal, not in a century... It is on the periphery, a dumping ground Not prime land earmarked for human habitation Through new eyes, we must have a clearer vision A landscape with a lush vegetation on the horizon No amount of money can ever buy a slum, The infrastructure of a safe neighbourhood and good sanitation When the very same people who seek to improve it, Don’t reside within it and merely claim it to be their roots No RDP can ever be a beautiful home, through new eyes No amount of Shoprite stores will make it look right No township will ever evolve into a City proper I repeat, demolish the township!